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Mixture and odorant processing in the olfactory systems of insects: a comparative perspective

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Abstract

Natural olfactory stimuli are often complex mixtures of volatiles, of which the identities and ratios of constituents are important for odor-mediated behaviors. Despite this importance, the mechanism by which the olfactory system processes this complex information remains an area of active study. In this review, we describe recent progress in how odorants and mixtures are processed in the brain of insects. We use a comparative approach toward contrasting olfactory coding and the behavioral efficacy of mixtures in different insect species, and organize these topics around four sections: (1) Examples of the behavioral efficacy of odor mixtures and the olfactory environment; (2) mixture processing in the periphery; (3) mixture coding in the antennal lobe; and (4) evolutionary implications and adaptations for olfactory processing. We also include pertinent background information about the processing of individual odorants and comparative differences in wiring and anatomy, as these topics have been richly investigated and inform the processing of mixtures in the insect olfactory system. Finally, we describe exciting studies that have begun to elucidate the role of the processing of complex olfactory information in evolution and speciation.

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Abbreviations

AL:

Antennal lobe

AN:

Antennal nerve

GABA:

γ-Aminobutyric acid

LH:

Lateral horn of the protocerebrum

LN:

Local interneuron

eLN:

Excitatory local interneuron

iLN:

Inhibitory local interneuron

MB:

Mushroom bodies

MGC:

Macroglomerular complex

OB:

Olfactory bulb

OR:

Olfactory receptor

OBP:

Odorant binding protein

ORC:

Olfactory receptor cell

PN:

Projection neuron

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank J.G. Hildebrand for his mentoring and for many stimulating discussions on the mechanisms of mixture processing. K. Byers and E. Sanders provided comments that greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. Support was provided by the National Science Foundation (DBI 1121692) (JAR) and the University of Washington, Seattle, Royal Research Fund (JAR), as well as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-0718124; to MRC).

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Marie R. Clifford & Jeffrey A. Riffell

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Clifford, M.R., Riffell, J.A. Mixture and odorant processing in the olfactory systems of insects: a comparative perspective. J Comp Physiol A 199, 911–928 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0818-6

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